Daily Musings — Notable News of the Day
January 5, 2021
Stimulus Check Latest: Is A Third Payment In Your Future?
It’s already clear that the House and President-elect Joe Biden support putting more money into the hands of Americans…Biden referred to the latest stimulus as a “down payment” for dealing with the pandemic.
2021 Will Be the Year of Guaranteed Income Experiments
At least 11 direct-cash experiments will be in effect this year, from Pittsburgh to Compton. Another 20 mayors have said they may launch such pilots in the future, with several cities taking initial legislative steps to implement them.
The Fed Is Powerful, Except in Fighting Wealth Inequality
The power to narrow the yawning gaps in the world’s largest economy begins and ends in the walls of Congress. Unfortunately, for more than a decade, lawmakers have ceded much of that responsibility to the Fed, an institution that is particularly ill-equipped to address wealth inequality.
UK scientists worry vaccines may not protect against S.African coronavirus variant
Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said that while both variants had some new features in common, the one found in South Africa “has a number additional mutations … which are concerning”.
Breakingviews — “Big Four” U.S. airlines may go down to three
Most other countries have a single flag carrier implicitly or explicitly backed by the state. America doesn’t, but pandemic bailouts have made the Big Four quasi-government-owned, giving the public a stake in their future.
Drugmakers kick off 2021 with 500 U.S. price hikes
They include more than 300 price increases from companies like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline reported by Reuters late last week. Nearly all the increases were below 10%, and the median hike was 4.8%
To ‘Keep Sharp’ This Year, Keep Learning, Advises Neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta
“The act of experiencing something new — or even doing something that’s typical for you, but in a different way — can all generate these new brain cells…We want to constantly be using new paths and trails and roads within our brain.”
Georgia Runoff Elections Have Huge Implications For Stock Market Outlook
Unified Democrat control of Congress would hinge on a Senate tiebreaking vote by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Yet even that margin could have huge implications for tax and spending policy, the shape of the coronavirus recovery and the stock market outlook.
Where Is Jack Ma? Former Alibaba CEO Suspected to Be Missing for Weeks
Ma appeared to call for a reform of China’s banking system and criticize Beijing financial officials for stifling innovation. “We can’t use yesterday’s methods to regulate the future,” he said on stage.
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